American violinist Rachel Barton Pine (born 1974) studied her first Paganini Caprice for solo violin at the age of 10, and she is brave enough to perform all 24 as a set in concert. She also plays all the repeats so that her new recording takes 99 minutes, hence the necessity for two CDs, allowing the inclusions of four extra pieces, including a musical tribute from her own pen.
Her focus is less on the wild-haired achievements of a devilish virtuoso than on Paganini as a composer influenced by vocal and operatic style.
A kind of coiffured, rehabilitated, spin-doctor tutored Paganini, if you like. For the wild man, there’s always the risk-embracing Thomas Zehetmair on ECM.
